Hattiesburg’s Lake and Michelle Garner got to see the world, and now the world’s about to see them.

The Garners will appear on the upcoming season of CBS’s “The Amazing Race,” which premieres at 8 p.m. Feb. 28.

The Garners are under a non-disclosure agreement with CBS and by contract cannot speak publicly about their participation until the end of the show.

Lake Garner’s mother, Diane, owner of Occasions in Hattiesburg, said that the family couldn’t talk about what happened, but are very excited to see the couple on television.

“I’m going to be absolutely thrilled to see both of them. I know they are capable of doing this – it is something they’ve always wanted to do. That will make it a real treat,” Diane Garner said.

Lake Garner is a practicing dentist in Hattiesburg, and the couple is described in their official “Amazing Race” biography online at http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race9/bios/lake_michelle/ as “a close-knit married couple” who met during college at the University of Southern Mississippi. Lake is described as a “limited” traveler who is self-described as “energetic and motivated.”

Michelle is a stay-at-home mother who is “much more laid back than her husband and hopes this doesn’t cause friction between the two.”

The show features teams of two who travel across the globe performing missions to win the $1 million prize. link

Hattiesburg's Lake and Michelle Garner got to see the world, and now the world's about to see them.

The Garners will appear on the upcoming season of CBS's "The Amazing Race," which premieres at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, on WHLT CBS-22.

The Garners are under a non-disclosure agreement with CBS and cannot speak publicly about their participation.

Lake Garner's mother, Diane Garner, owner of Occasions in Hattiesburg, said family members are excited to see the couple on television.

"I know they are capable of doing this; it is something they've always wanted to do. That will make it a real treat," Diane Garner said.

Lake Garner is a dentist in Hattiesburg, and the couple is described in their official "Amazing Race" biography as "a close-knit married couple" that met during college at the University of Southern Mississippi. Lake is described as a "limited" traveler who is "energetic and motivated." Michelle is a stay-at-home mother who is "much more laid back than her husband and hopes this doesn't cause friction between the two."

Now in its ninth season, "Amazing Race" features teams of two that travel across the globe performing tasks that range from tough physical feats to gross-out eating contests.

Through a series of contests and missions, the teams will be eliminated week by week until one pair wins the $1 million dollar prize.

"We are extremely excited for our viewers to be able to identify our product with more local people," WHLT general manager Wally Babbidge said in a prepared statement.

As for the Garners: They'll be able to talk publicly after they are eliminated - or win the million bucks.

Just to be clear: Nobody in Hattiesburg knows if local couple Lake and Michelle Garner won the $1 million prize on CBS's primetime reality television show "The Amazing Race."

Not even Mom."I really don't know, and I really wish I did," said Pam Potson, mother of Michelle Garner. "I'm one of those people who reads the last page of a book first, so this is really killing me."

Potson said that when the Garners returned from five weeks of taping the program last fall, her daughter wouldn't even offer a clue as to what happened. CBS and the show's producers sign all contestants to strict confidentiality agreements until the show's conclusion this summer. That means no interviews, no hints and no clues as to whether or not Lake and Michelle were the last of 11 teams of two competing worldwide for the cash prize.

"There was no changed behavior. No change in spending, like they'd won," Potson said.

So Mom did what any curious fan would - she got on the Internet.

Potson is now a TARfly, (TAR serving as an acronym for the show's name), one of the hard-core "Race" fans who gather online to dissect each episode of the Emmy Award-winning reality show that hopes to recapture its once-surging momentum when the ninth season debuts at 8 p.m. Tuesday on CBS.

The show, which debuted to small fanfare in September 2001, built a steady following until its fourth season, when it took home the first-ever Emmy Award for Best Reality Television Series.

"After the Emmy the show picked up steadily through the seventh season, when they had people from 'Survivor' on there, until last year," TARflies.com site manager Beth Wilson said.

Wilson, a 32-year-old Web developer in Austin, Texas, oversees TARflies, and has watched the show since its inaugural season. Like most "Race" fans, however, Wilson was displeased last year when producers changed the format to family-based teams of four competing only in the United States. She wasn't alone, as ratings dipped for the first time in four years and critics began to sour on the show.

During that season, the family teams stayed inside the United States, and even rode through Hattiesburg on one leg at the Southern Colonel mobile home dealership. Wilson said this season's return to the original format of paired teams competing in more exotic missions all across the world will be a back-to-basics approach.

"It was a couple of factors. For one, four members on a team means the viewer has to get to know 40 different people. One of the things that makes "Race" fun is that you feel like you get to know the players. Also, they stayed in America. I personally think that has a lot to with budget, buying all those tickets to go overseas," Wilson said.

The Garners fit the profile of what TARflies call "real people," specifically persons who haven't appeared on reality television before and aren't trying to become actors or celebrities (TARflies dislike these contestants, labeling them "MActors," as in model/actors).

Lake Garner is a dentist and local developer, and Michelle is a stay-at-home mother to the couple's three children. The pair, who might while attending school at the University of Southern Mississippi, are portrayed on the "Race" Web site as a couple with two different personalities. Lake is a "limited traveler" and Michelle is "more laid back."

"That's really probably accurate." Potson said. "(Michelle) is pretty laid back. She's organized in an unorganized sort of way, which you have to be with three kids. Lake's more of a perfectionist, which you have to be in the medical profession."

Since CBS debuted the contestants in January, TARflies.com's online forums have been jammed with predictions. Wilson said that usually teams with two athletic males are favored initially, but that the show's variety of challenges can make it anyone's game.

"One thing about the race itself is that it's totally unpredictable and that's why it's so fun to watch," Wilson said.

As for the Garner's five-week absence - it isn't much of clue. Wilson said that the entire show is taped in about one month, and even teams that are eliminated early are held in vacation-style resorts (nicknamed "Sequester-ville" by fans) until the show ends.

"From what I've read on the Internet, I think they went to Ghana, Russia and Portugal. But I'm not sure. They are closed-mouthed. Now I don't even try to bring it up," Potson said. "I can't wait to find out. I really can't."

Oh my gosh, I thought it was one of the funniest comments ever. But he was being very...idk. The way he is portraying himself right now on national television is just not right! Oh..and...did Rob say that there was a side by side photo of him somewhere? Where can I view this? LoL.

NEW YORK, April 13, 2006--------------------------------------------------------------------------------(CBS) Six teams battled it out in Greece in the "Amazing Race 9" episode that aired Wednesday night.

It turned out that Lake and Michelle, the married parents from Hattiesburg, Miss., spent so much time battling each other, rather than their opponents, that they got lost at a crucial time and became the odd-team-out.

According to the show's official Web site, "After a brief stop in Italy’s capital of Rome, Teams traveled to the ruins of another ancient civilization in Athens, Greece where friends Eric & Jeremy continued their domination by winning the Fast Forward to secure another first place finish. Meanwhile, best friends BJ & Tyler drove hours in the wrong direction, but caught a huge break as married parents Lake & Michelle couldn’t find the Pit Stop resulting in their elimination.

… With married couple Fran & Barry finishing in fourth place, only two Teams remained on the road: married parents Lake & Michelle and best friends BJ & Tyler. With a potential elimination in the balance, Lake began to crack under the pressure of not knowing where to go. After making him pull over, Michelle calmed down an uncharacteristically quiet Lake and then took over the wheel. Meanwhile, best friends BJ & Tyler finally got on track with directions and pulled into the Fortress of Rion in fifth place. However, the stunned pair received the same penalty as Ray & Yolanda and had to wait fifteen minutes with the chance of Lake & Michelle appearing. When the married parents did not arrive, BJ & Tyler breathed a sigh of relief and kissed Phil in appreciation.

Stepping onto the mat in last place, married parents Lake & Michelle received the bad news from Phil that they had been eliminated from THE AMAZING RACE. Lake said, “On the Race, we’ve gotten along great most of the time. There’s been those times when it’s high pressure, so you want to blame your partner. It’s very, very stressful.” Michelle added, “I’m sure that some people see our relationship and think it’s completely whacked…but it works for us. We have a great family, beautiful children and we’re getting by the best we can and that’s pretty good.”

“You Can’t Believe Everything That You See” - An Interview with The Amazing Race 9’s Lake and Michelle by Jenn Brasler -- 04/14/2006

The Amazing Race 9’s bickering, swearing, absent-minded, directionally-challenged couple, Michelle and Lake (right) have a few more words to say to their fans (and to the viewers who don’t like them quite that much). Read on to find out how much of what we saw was real and how much was editing.

RealityNewsOnline: Hi, Lake and Michelle! Congrats on making it so far in the race. You looked like you had a great time. First off, the question you’ll probably be asked a lot - do you two really act the way you were shown? Do you think the editing was fair?

Lake & Michelle: No, on the race we were under an extreme amount of stress and placed in unnatural situations, and everything you saw was a result of that.

RNO: Lake, have you heard about the comparisons people have made between you and people like Jonathan from the sixth season? What do you have to say about that?

Lake: I don’t like to be compared to be Jonathan because I am not like him at all.

RNO: We didn’t see you two interacting a lot with other teams. Did you connect with anyone on the race?

Lake & Michelle: Yes, we connected with Ray & Yolanda and BJ & Tyler. Very nice teams and great competitors.

RNO: Did you pack anything unusual or interesting?

Michelle: I packed power bars in case we didn’t get to eat. We packed very light. Lake’s bag was 13 pounds.

RNO: Who did you think would be the team to beat?

Lake & Michelle: Joseph & Monica, only because appearance-wise, they seemed to be the closest in comparison to us and a strong team.

RNO: Did you think Fran & Barry would make it this far?

Lake & Michelle: No, we didn’t expect them to be as resilient as they were.

RNO: What were your favorite moments on the race?

Lake: Mine was the starting line. Being there in the moment, that was extremely exciting when Phil starts all the teams off saying to get ready to embark on a trip around the world.

Michelle: I enjoyed the waterfall detour.

RNO: What do you think is more important on the race, luck or skill?

Lake & Michelle: You have to have a certain level of skill, and after that luck definitely comes into play.

RNO: Is there anything you said that you would like to take back? Any regrets from your experience?

Lake: Yeah, all the curse words. I thought they were going to bleep them out, but yeah. My biggest regret is that I didn’t listen to Michelle more after the first three or four legs.

Michelle: My regret is that we didn’t go further.

RNO: What do you want to say to people?

Lake & Michelle: First we want to clear up that we were wearing microphones at the kayak roadblock in Italy.

Michelle: You can’t believe everything that you see. We are very proud to have been able to do this race and we hope that we provided some exciting moments on television for fans. All we wanted to do was run a good race.

He cursed, he complained and he argued with his wife - all on national television - but "The Amazing Race" contestant Lake Garner promises he's no villain.

"Looking back, I see that I was too naive to realize I got cast in that part," the Hattiesburg dentist said Thursday morning, just hours after appearing on a nationally televised morning talk show with his wife and teammate Michelle.

The couple were eliminated Wednesday night as contestants on the ninth season of the CBS reality adventure series. Just hours after their elimination episode aired, the pair started a press junket in New York City to talk about their experience as the "Bad Guy" couple.

"I think they [the press] were surprised," Lake said after "The Early Show" taping. "We kind of played it low key. They were probably expecting us to be more excitable."

That "excitable" nature has garnered the Garners more attention for their marriage than for their chance to compete for $1 million in "a race around the world" on national television.

"We thought we were getting along good during the show. I think in retrospect that after the second or third episode (Michelle) was wanting me to take the lead. After the first two or three legs I like to think I was listening to her sometimes," Lake said.

Michelle said the couple tried out because they wanted to play the game, not deal with the subsequent attention from the media and viewers. But a week before the season premiere on Feb. 28, Michelle read an article in Entertainment Weekly labeling Lake a "villain" character for the season. Before the show debuted, Lake was described as "highly competitive" on the "Amazing Race" Web site at www.cbs.com.

"I didn't expect (the attention) at all. I did the 'Race' because I wanted to; there was no other motive. I wasn't prepared for as many people to talk about it and know about us," Michelle said.

Once the show debuted, the Garners got a chance to see what footage "Race" producers had decided to air. In the seven episodes the pair appeared in, each installment had at least one scene where the couple had heated arguments. A constant point of contention was navigation, as teams are responsible for finding their way though various foreign countries to complete different tasks.

During Wednesday night's episode, the Garners were shown having a fight over directions while driving through rural Greece. Lake cursed at his wife, but Michelle then was seen calming down an "overstressed" Lake on the side of the road.

"They could have tried to show a softer side a little bit because it was there. But you get in the heat of the 'Race' and that competitive spirit can take over, and Lake is very competitive," Michelle said.

That spirit drew the attention of fans and Hattiesburg residents alike. Lake was a constant subject of scrutiny in online forums on "Amazing Race" fan forums, and the Garners' behavior became the subject of several letters to the editor at the Hattiesburg American. Lake said that the response he's received from friends and family has been overwhelmingly positive.

The Garners' immediate family have remained supportive of the pair throughout the experience. Michelle's mother, Pam Poston, and Lake's mother, Diane Garner, helped look after the couple's three children while the Garners were on the five-week shoot.

After their elimination, the couple was sequestered at an undisclosed resort for nine days. On the final episode, the pair will appear with all 11 teams at the finish line.

Poston said she thought the show's producers created stock characters with their portrayal of the couple,

"I think that they did something typical of a TV show. They had to give personalities to different couples. Unfortunately (Lake and Michelle) got the 'Bickering Couple,'" Poston said.

"Even though I knew it was a show I didn't like seeing anything that hurt my daughter and her family. It hurt me when they did (argue) because I knew there'd be a backlash on that."

Still, Poston stands by her son-in-law and daughter, who have been married for 15 years.

"Lake is very energetic, he tends to leap before he thinks, but in real life they are a close couple with their ups and downs and they always seem to get over them. Michelle is very sure of herself, too," Poston said.

"We enjoyed doing this," Michelle said. "(People) would be surprised that we have a great relationship, that we get along in everyday life as much as we do."

And Poston backs up her daughter's quiet reaction to her husband's on-air arguing.

"Michelle was always aware there was a camera on, so she was very gracious," Poston said.

"Trust me, at home she would've put a stop to all that pretty quickly."

Hattiesburg couple Lake and Michelle Garner were eliminated from the CBS reality adventure show "The Amazing Race" on Wednesday's episode.

The couple, who began the episode in fifth place, were the last team to arrive at the "Pit Stop" after the sixth leg in Greece.

When reached by phone Wednesday night, Lake Garner declined an interview until later today. The producers of "The Amazing Race" designate each eliminated team to speak publicly the day following their last episode.

Throughout the couple's run of seven episodes, the Garners became notorious for their onscreen arguing with one another. Lake, a local dentist and real estate developer, and Michelle, a stay-at-home mother of two, were shown having verbal confrontations every week.

"It may be hard for you guys to believe, but our relationship actually grew throughout the race," Lake said Wednesday night.

"The Amazing Race" pits 11 teams of two in "a race around the world," as pairs compete with each other in different countries every week. This season started in Denver, Colo., and moved through Brazil, Russia, Italy and Greece. Teams must complete missions involving both mental and physical challenges, such as piecing together puzzles and bungee jumping. Lake Garner, 37, became a favorite topic among "Race" fans for his ultra-competitive nature and his creative cursing ("Dagnabit" quickly became his catch phrase).

"I really thought they were going to be edited to look like a villain team, at least that's what the press ahead of the show had led us to believe. Personally, they didn't annoy me as much as I thought they would initially. They weren't a clear-cut 'hate-them' team. Some people found them rather amusing," TARflies.com site manager Beth Wilson said.

Wilson is an online editor at TARflies.com, a Web site created by "Race" fans that allows for online forums and discussions on "Amazing Race" topics.

From a performance standpoint, the Garners will fall in the middle of the pack. The "Race" began with 11 teams of two, with one team eliminated at the end each pit stop. Lake and Michelle outlasted five teams before falling in Wednesday's sixth leg.

"They weren't thought as a favorite to win, but people weren't discounting them to win either. That's what makes the show great is that it is so unpredictable," Wilson said.

The Garners never won an individual leg, which awards the first place team with a separate prize, such as a vacation or merchandise. Through six legs of the "Race," the Garners finished as high as third place and as low as seventh.

Poor Lake and Michelle were portrayed incorrectly?? hah, I don't think so. Even if the other couples had arguments--I don't think it was a rude as telling Michelle to shutup. And he never wanted to follow Michelle's directions and went where he thought was right. I can't remember if it was the second episode where all the teams were leaving the pit stop and Michelle had told him to turn and he went the opposite way and got stuck in the middle of a field. He was rude from the get go and the stress level is always lower at the beginning of the race. I finally see the answer to a question I have had for a long time.

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After their elimination, the couple was sequestered at an undisclosed resort for nine days. On the final episode, the pair will appear with all 11 teams at the finish line.

. I always wanted to know if they go somewhere until the race is over. This makes sense as it seems alot of the racers all develop nice relationships with each other.

Lake and Michelle of CBS' The Amazing Race (Wednesdays at 8 pm/ET) have been called this season's Jonathan and Victoria. Argumentative. Snappy. They pecked at each other almost right up to the moment they were eliminated in Greece. Married for almost 15 years, the Mississippi dental team — he's a dentist, she's his office assistant — swear they're a lot nicer to each other in real life. No, really. TVGuide.com: Your accents are so charming — except for when you're mad!Lake: Well...Michelle: When else do you get to hear us talking? [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: Speaking of that, Lake, you were really mean to Michelle. At one point in Greece you even said something like, "Bitch, just shut up!" How did you explain that to your children — Gage, 12; Landon, 10; and Cannon, almost 4?Michelle: I talked to my son last night. He didn't like to see us argue like that. But we've explained to them the amount of stress that you're under, the lack of sleep, the lack of food, and that the situation is just different. They're with us every day, so they know how Lake treats me and how our relationship is. They know we're very much in love and we're committed to them and to our family. Lake: People might be surprised, but I give Michelle flowers every month, just out of the blue. I got her a new ring last year and a new car for Christmas, just for her to use for herself. I try to do things like that for her. I also try to spend time with her and I make a lot of effort to push her a little harder and try to compensate by doing things that most guys wouldn't do. If you saw The Early Show, that's more along the lines of what we're really like — more calm and loving toward each other. I was hyped up during that first episode.

TVGuide.com: Did the patches you wore on your necks have anything to do with it?Lake: The patches actually have a side effect of dry mouth. I get dizzy really easily and we didn't know if we'd be upside down on something, so we put those patches on so we wouldn't go out on the first few legs. They last about 24 hours.

TVGuide.com: What has been your weekly Amazing Race viewing ritual? Lake: We had pretty big parties the first few weeks of the show, then it got to where we couldn't watch the show because we were talking and carrying on throughout the whole thing. Last night we only had 20 or 30 people over.

TVGuide.com: Only 20 or 30?! How many did you have the weeks before?Lake: We had about 150 the first week, because we really didn't say no to anybody. We told people that if they wanted to come to our house, the doors were open. We only invited 30 to 40, but they brought friends, their friends brought friends... and some people we didn't even know! It was a pretty big shindig.

TVGuide.com: Has the show helped your dental practice? Lake: Not a huge amount. Everybody talks about it, and some people said they came in because they heard about it and saw us on the Race. It hasn't been hundreds. Probably more like 10 to 20.

TVGuide.com: Michelle, was it your idea to do Amazing Race?Michelle: Yeah.Lake: It was completely her idea. I had seen it a few times, and watched Rob and Amber. I didn't like the Family Edition. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have been on it, for sure.

TVGuide.com: How did you convince Lake to do it?Michelle: I just said, "I'm applying for Amazing Race and you're my partner." It looked like I could maybe do some of the things those other people were doing and things you don't get to do every day, especially [when I'm] running errands every day and taking the kids to gymnastics or soccer.

TVGuide.com: Hello, like bungee jumping! I was surprised, Michelle, that you didn't freak out and that you had perfect form. Was that how it really was, or did they edit it that way?Michelle: I didn't freak out and I had perfect form. I'll be honest, I told myself I had to do it, walked out to the platform and jumped, and that was it. I did not do any of that babylike "I don't want to do it" stuff. This is a race, so I sucked it up.

TVGuide.com: You seem surprised that Barry and Fran outlasted you.Lake: They shouldn't have. They got lucky, I guess. We felt like we were one of the better teams. When you see someone finishing first or second all the time, you may think, "We're better than them, but we're really not." Between us and MoJo, we thought we were one of the three best teams. If we could beat out MoJo in the final three, we'd be happy. Then if we got lucky, like the Frat Boys did every other leg, maybe we could win.

TVGuide.com: You picked out a hierarchy right away?Michelle: Yep, after the first two or three legs.Lake: We felt like the Frat Boys and B.J. and Tyler were two of the stronger teams. Sometimes on the Race, teams get lucky. I didn't think Chip and Kim were that good of a team, and they ended up winning [Amazing Race 5]. MoJo came in there and started tightening up. When it got down to six, we felt we really should beat Fran and Barry. We beat Ray and Yolanda every single time, except once in Brazil. We really liked our chances for getting into the third spot.Michelle: It didn't work out that way. Us going out was a huge surprise.

TVGuide.com: Whom do you put as the winner of the remaining teams?Michelle: We don't care. Good luck to everybody.

Michelle: I talked to my son last night. He didn't like to see us argue like that. But we've explained to them the amount of stress that you're under, the lack of sleep, the lack of food, and that the situation is just different. They're with us every day, so they know how Lake treats me and how our relationship is. They know we're very much in love and we're committed to them and to our family.

Sure, there's a lot of stress in TAR, but all the racers are under tremendous stress. That's no excuse for the anyone to act the way Lake did towards his wife :nono: ...badmouthing her constantly and just basically being a jerk. I can't believe :shake: he doesn't do the same at home in front of their kids.

I agree with you Rudy. Stress or no stress---do you hear the other teams carrying on like Lake. And buying Michelle flowers, presents is his way of making up for all his meanness. I once had a supervisor that would get so stressed out that she would just bite our heads off and then she would suck up to us with sweets from the bakery. I got tired of eating the sweets because although they were good---I would have preferred not to get any treats and have our supervisor not bite our head off when she was stressed. So this is the same thing.

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Lake:.... Sometimes on the Race, teams get lucky. I didn't think Chip and Kim were that good of a team, and they ended up winning [Amazing Race 5].

Grrrr... that statement makes me angry. Chip and Kim were a great team and I was very pleased that they won. They deserved it.

The plain fact about Lake is he is a very competitive person and he can't stand losing and some of his statements he makes in this last article shows it. I better not saying anymore or I might ....

Lake is just jealous of Chip n' Kim!! Grrr...his remarks irk me too, BF! He needs a shrink with all of his probs. Honestly, Michelle will eventually dump him unless he admits he has probs and gets help. Right now, she's codependent & tolerating him for the sake of the kids, IMO. She deserves better.

Terry Lake Garner, a 37-year-old dentist from Hattiesburg, Miss., known for both his poker prowess and an appearance on The Amazing Race, has won Event 9 - $1,000+$60 No-Limit Hold'em - at the Bayou Poker Challenge.

One of the higher buy-in events at this year's World Series of Poker Circuit series stop in New Orleans, the tourney saw 266 players fork over the coin, with Garner - no stranger to winning poker tournaments, having taken a World Poker Tour Season 3 event - eventually riding a final table chip lead all the way to the finish.